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2/21/11

Making Bank Tutorial

In honor of Celebrate the Boy month over at Made by Rae and Made, I've come up with something crafty for the boys. This little project can easily be customized for a girl and a variety of ages and has probably been done in some form or another before but is perfect for any little man with a Transformer/Thomas the Train/Spiderman habit.

This Save/Spend/Share bank came to be after we ordered a similar bank online that came in primary colors. It was well designed but...in primary colors. Did I mention the primary colors? I have no qualms with red, yellow, blue, and green in their bold states but I knew I could make something similar for Sebastian to use as a learning tool that we both enjoyed. I used contact paper for a modern look but it could easily be substituted for Kraft paper so that your children could decorate it with crayons or stickers.

We've recently started giving him an allowance in return for completing basic chores such as making his bed, putting his dirty clothes away, picking his room up, clearing his place at the table, etc. and wanted to teach him at an early age about save and sharing. The spending part comes easy to him. He takes after his mother.

I used three plastic Welch's juice containers that had yellow lids (we like yellow!), two shades of wood grain contact paper (available at hardware and some home stores), a ruler, sharp kitchen scissors, and a large rubber band. I used the one from the original bank but you can use an industrial strength rubber band.

I measured and cut the lighter wood grain contact paper so that it fit around the juice containers and overlapped about 1/2". I had to adjust them a few times to make sure it was even but contact paper is forgiving!

I then hand cut the words 'save', 'spend', and 'share' from the darker wood grain contact paper making sure they'd work above the line of the rubber band.

I then poked a hole in the middle of the plastic lids with my sharp scissors and cut out a rectangle in the center of each.

Lastly I reattached the lids and gathered them with the rubber band.

Each week when Sebastian gets his allowance we give it to him so he can put 10% in his save category and 10% in his share category. The rest he gets to keep and use on any toys or treats that he wants. We've explained that we don't always buy something just to buy something when we go to the store and that when he chooses to spend his money on something, he has to wait awhile to build up enough money to buy something else. This has helped him to appreciate how much things cost, make choices about what kinds of toys he wants to buy, and hopefully will help him take care of those things a little more.

We're also hoping that it will instill a sense of generosity when we decide together how to spend the money on someone else when he's saved up a larger amount in his share container. We've talked about purchasing chicks or a bunny through Heifer International or maybe donating it to a local charity. Sharing this with Sebastian has been not only fun but good accountability for us to remember to manage our money well!

Thanks for stopping by! If you're here for the first time from Celebrate the Boy, welcome! If you haven't checked out the projects and round ups that have been shared so far, you'll want to headover NOW and see what so many creative women have been making for their boys! Thanks Dana and Rae!!

making banks for my girls was on my to do list for this month and your diy is perfect. i had been saving trader's joe's coffee cans, but they are a little big, especially if I want three of them per person. I love your idea for using juice containers.

oh my gosh you are so awesome! love this - we just started Dave Ramsey's class at our church and he would be so impressed with you at how your instilling the importance of teaching kids about money! and it's sooo cute too!

What a great idea!!! am seriously thinking of making one of thses for myself (even though im 29!) I find the spending part easy - not so good at the saving! and sharing - I could choose a different charity each month!!!

Hello Rachel,That's a lovely and wise way of teaching a child how to handle money. I love it because it will teach him to save some of it to share too. I'm going to adopt your method with my son when he's a little bigger. Thank you for a wonderful tutorial. I will surely be following you now :-)Dhilma

If you are making your own at home, you might be interested in our Conversations to Go- it is a conversation box filled with great open ended questions for the family around money ideas. You might discover a family mission or that each member holds very different values around the Share box. It is wonderful that you are starting the conversation and visual tools really do help!!www.moonjar.com